FanPost

Why the Rocket's Offense is Always Lethal?

Simplicity. This is the key to basketball in youth, collegiately, and even professionally. A coach’s job is to make the game plan understood by everyone and put players in an advantageous position. So, while media outlets slander the Rocket's approach and love for analytics, it would be disingenuous for anyone to say this system doesn't produce results.

The Rockets have won 55 games (3rd), 65 games (1st), and 53 games (4th) since Mike D'Antoni took the team over. The Rockets have been compared to Dantoni's Suns teams of the past. The comparison sounds something like this. They put up points, they win regular season games. Then when the playoffs come around having no defense and a lack of adjustments will be an Achilles heel.

This argument has no basis. Using losing to Golden State as a way to assess how well a system works is laughable. The truth is the Rockets system has allowed them to keep pace with the Warriors because mathematically no one plays better. So, with no team with comparable talent to the Warriors present, Rockets fans should be excited.

So how does this all work? It's simple everyone on the roster does what they are expected to do. This sounds cliché but players understanding their roles can't be overlooked. For example, last year’s Celtics, a very talented team, that was well coached, could not find any form of consistency because too many players were concerned on the pecking order, and who would initiate the offense.

In Houston no such problem exists. The court is spread out and enables Harden to pick apart the defense in a multitude of ways, Having the league’s best scorer who can also be a playmaker obviously helps but still there's more that is required. PJ Tucker the league's best corner three-point shooter is almost always there. Simple. Mclemore, Rivers, Gordon, Clemons all guys who were focal points in either college or different NBA teams have maximized their talents by being quick decision makers off the catch. As soon as those guys catch the ball, they either shoot, make the extra pass, or quickly attack a closeout and make a play. Capela either roams the dunker spot or sets a high ball screen and rolls hard looking to catch a lob or bring defenders in so one of the aforementioned perimeter players can be ready to generate a high percentage look.

The Rockets have only made 33.3% of their 3pt looks this year but still over a 100 3-point attempts that equates to 99.9 points. In other words, to generate those points on 100 2 point attempts you would need to make 50 of them. Which is unlikely if you don't spread the defense out anyway. Three guys on the Rockets in particular have shot the ball well. Tucker (45.2%) , House (43.8%), and Clemons (41.2%) have all increased spacing. Gordon's return could also add another member to the mix. Rivers and Mclemore are streaky but both can shoot when they get hot.

Even in what has been an uneven offensive showing thus far due to injuries, fit, and cold shooting, the Rocket still rank 3rd in offensive rating this season. Couple that with their 8th best mark in True Shooting percentage as a team and being 2nd in pace and you've got teams scrambling for opportunities to stop them.

So, are there any concerns? Yes, there is one. Russell Westbrook oddly enough is the one thing that negates the simplicity of this brilliant strategy. While he's the biggest factor in the increase in pace he's also coughing up the ball 4 times per game. More importantly, he distorts spacing due to his 23% shooting from distance. In fact, as of late opponents have been more than willing to leave him completely and double Harden which had never been an issue before because everyone on the court could shoot.

The solution is to stagger their minutes as much as possible and that become easier in the new year when EG is expected back. Still opening and closing games two of the most important times in a game the duo will be out there. Not to mention Russ is the highest paid player on the team so being a good friend of James isn't enough to warrant 38 million. Simply put it he has to find a way to contribute and knock down just 35% of his wide-open catch and shoot threes. His perimeter shooting could be the biggest X factor in the entire West playoff field, that's how important this is to Houston's success.

So next time you hear slander on the system, Harden's brilliance, or D'Antoni as a coach, understand that this system is proven, and other teams are beginning to emulate it. Dallas who runs spread PnR for Luka as the decision maker has the 4th most efficient offense since 1996. The league has figured out threes and layups are the way to play. It's only right the pioneers of this style get their respect.

-Naode Mehari

No cursing in title. No pirated material, such as links to online game streams. Do not cut/paste entire sections of content from other websites. Thanks.